Thank God for Boniface, patron saint of beer

These days, the taps are open and the beer is flowing in Texas. Craft breweries are hopping up throughout the state and, thanks to new legislation, more Texans will soon be enjoying Lone Star state suds. To whom do these beer heads turn to give thanks?

Should they thank Silenus, Greek god of beer, or Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess who slakes the thirst of the world with the fruit of her bounteous hops? Closer to home, the Aztecan faithful may magnify Tezcatzontecatl, god of drunkenness. Perhaps, with a mouthful of ale, you can mumble the mouthful of a name of the Zulu god Mbaba Mwana Waresa, credited with brewing the first beer in creation.

Today, let the Catholic faithful, and many others, say “prost” in prayer to St. Boniface of Mainz, the patron saint of beer and brewers, whose festival day is June 5.

A respected theologian and teacher in his native England, Boniface, born Wynfrith, begged his abbott to send him to foreign lands as a missionary to bring glory to God and fame to his native country. He expected to return in triumph from his evangelistic foray into Friesland, in what is now modern-day Holland. However, his message was not well received and Holland’s breweries have suffered ever since.

Down, but not out, Wynfrith prepared for his second missionary journey by traveling to Rome where he enjoyed the audience of Pope Gregory II. Renamed Boniface and commissioned by the pope, he was sent to Germania to correct errant theology and bring pagans to faith.

On one occasion Boniface chopped down an oak tree that locals worshipped as the Norse god Thor. Having struck down the tree, he triumphantly declared, “My God has a bigger axe!” With such awesome, and politically incorrect, acts, Boniface converted the Germans.

St. Boniface Brewing Co. in Pennsylvania connects their brewing evangelism to Boniface’s proselytizing acts. Jon Nort, a brewer there, said, “I have witnessed many beer ‘pagans’ worshiping the false gods of the big beer industry and think it’s time take a Boniface-like swing at converting some of those people to a better way of life, one full of rich, tasty, more satisfying brews.”

Boniface and the brewers in Pennsylvania are not alone. As many Houstonians know, St. Arnold of Metz is another saint of suds and the namesake of Texas’ oldest craft brewery. The brewery reveals on its tours that St. Arnold, Bishop of Metz, encouraged his people to drink beer instead of water to avoid diseases such as cholera.

Furthermore, one of the miracles that led to his beatification and sainthood is recorded on the St. Arnold Brewery website:

It was July 642 and very hot when the parishioners of Metz went to Remiremont to recover the remains of their former bishop. They had little to drink and the terrain was inhospitable. At the point when the exhausted procession was about to leave Champigneulles, one of the parishioners, Duc Notto, prayed “By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack.” Immediately the small remnant of beer at the bottom of a pot multiplied in such amounts that the pilgrims thirst was quenched and they had enough to enjoy the next evening when they arrived in Metz.

While Mormons, Muslims and other faithful abstain from alcohol for religious reasons, there are many others who not only enjoy a tipple without contrition, but derive their spirituality from the tap. There are a slew of Evangelical churches who have, “Theological Pubs” and even people asking, “What would Jesus brew?”

Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, is apocryphally credited with saying, “whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!” In the Middle Ages, the faithful would use beer during the fast of Lent. Many monks, including the Trappists, are fathers of some of the finest brewing traditions in the world.

Certainly, the draughts are deep when it comes to beer and religion, specifically within the Christian tradition. What’s the point? Frequently, food and faith cross paths, but what hath pints to do with piety?

Sue McLaughlin wrote in The Meaning of Food that, “everything about eating…is a form of communication rich with meaning. Our attitudes, practices, and rituals around food are a window into our most basic beliefs about our world and ourselves.”

For those whose froth mixes with their faith, there is an intimate connection between three elements of beer production and consumption that make it a conduit for incorporeal experiences. First, the production of brews is founded in agrarian cultures. The many gods and goddesses of beer, including those mentioned above, are also the gods of grains. Hence, thankfulness for beer is, by extension, gratefulness for a good harvest, a longtime practice of religions both primitive and progressive. Second, beer has often been used to bring worshippers to a state of soused spirituality. From the parallels of being “drunk in the spirit” to the ancient South African practice of using sorghum beer in religious rituals, beer’s buzz can be a channel akin to peyote or tea in Buddhist meditation practices. Finally, there is a communal element to drinking beer. Most of the religious emphasis on beer drinking also revolves around community. Food, and beer included, bridges between people, cultures and even enemies. And this might be its strongest religious element.

Thus, in that flavor, enjoy a beer in honor of St. Boniface today, but be sure to do it with friends. Just don’t drink so much you confuse a tree for the Norse god Thor and feel the need to chop it down – no pub will appreciate your historical re-enactment of the patron saint of beer’s famous acts.